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Part 1 ➤ Plan to Succeed

If you don’t quite have a handle on where you’re going, don’t panic!
Just review Chapter 1, “Mapping Your Job Hunt,” to help get a career
plan in place.
When you know what your job objective is, you can easily take inven-
tory of your skills and present your favorite and most marketable ones.
That makes for a powerful package: a resume that says what you want
Terms of Employment and why you should have it!
The most common meaning of
the word resume is a short Changing Directions
account of one’s professional
experience and qualifications, Resumes are especially important for career changers who may be rely-
typically used by a job applicant. ing solely on their marketing documents to represent them in new ter-
However, resumes are also used ritories. If that’s your situation, rest assured that the following resume
for projects that don’t involve a tricks will help you stand up to your competition and even surpass it.
job search, such as business plans,
➤ Use a functional format (see Chapter 5, “Get Functional”) for your
school applications, and consult-
resume.
ing proposals.
➤ Highlight only the qualifications that are relevant to your job
objective.
➤ Write about experiences that reflect an understanding of the job you’re seeking.

With a resume that uses these principles and others that I’ll explain in Part 2, “Six Steps to
a Perfect Resume,” you’re going to look like you should own the company. Okay, maybe
not quite own the company, but you’re going to look like you belong there.

Interview Influence

An interview may get you sweaty, but it doesn’t have to give you an
aneurysm. Your resume can take the edge off of your big encounter
with Mr. Interviewer in many ways.

Career Casualty Your Brochure

Don’t write a “general” resume For most people, the resume’s most important job is to solicit
that makes you look like a Jack interviews—it’s a brochure to potential employers. Because your
of all trades. The more focused resume may stand against hundreds of other resumes in competition
your resume is toward a job for a job, it needs to present you in the best light possible.
objective, the more confident
and more valuable you look.
Charting Your Course
What you decide to put on your resume will suggest the topics
for discussion during the interview. In other words, the resume is
your chance to say, “Hey, let’s talk about my strengths. Here’s what
I’m really good at!”

Easy Answers to Tough Questions

A resume also prepares you for job interviews. The process of putting your resume together
will help you figure out the answers to sticky interview questions such as the following:

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